Steelers Attend PSU Pro Day, Hot For James?

The college Pro Days are taking place and the Steelers are in attendance in a couple of spots.

While head coach Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert visit Missouri for its Pro Day on Thursday, offensive coordinator Todd Haley and offensive line coach Mike Munchak attended Penn State’s Pro Day.

The two Steelers offensive coaches more than likely had their eye on former Penn State tight end, Jesse James. James is a brute at tight end. At 6’7″ and 245 lbs., James is a big framed and long armed run blocker. It’s what he excels at.

James is also fairly good at catching passes from his QB’s.

It’s this kind of duality – the joker TE, that the Steelers desperately need within the next season.

They realize it, and this is obviously why they attended PSU’s Pro Day. Others might speculate that because of Mike Munchak’s attendance there’s interest in Donovan Smith.

I’ll argue that Munchak is there to assess James’ skills up close first and foremost. If there’s interest in Smith – it’s secondary. Addressing left tackle would be a novel idea because who doesn’t want to see Beachum kicked to the inside and a larger and more athletic left tackle watch Ben Roethlisberger’s left side?

But, make no mistake – those two were out there for James.

It makes complete sense.

Todd Haley loves his TE’s and the best that’s ever worn a Steelers uniform is going to be hanging it up in a season (or two at best). Matt Spaeth or any other TE currently on the roster is not going to fill those shoes. Someone needs to be the guy that can haul in anywhere between 60-70 catches a season.

It’s going to come through the draft. If Todd Haley is going to stick around as offensive coordinator for a while and not have any chance in hell of changing his game plan, then he knows he needs a special kind of TE.

We’ve mocked James before, and he is very reachable in the 4th round.

James needs to work on a few things, such as hands and acceleration. He needs to find more separation and get down the middle of the field more. But, most of the intangibles are in place for him to become another staple on the Steelers offense.

If James is still available in that 4th round, know that James will be that BPA for the Steelers… regardless if they still need that second cornerback.

Next: Did The Steelers Blow It In FA?

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